


Familiar Habits

by one_stole_the_sky



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette | Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Identity Reveal, Ladynoir | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:27:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28607475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/one_stole_the_sky/pseuds/one_stole_the_sky
Summary: Marinette and Adrien realize that they have developed habits as their alter egos which sometimes can spill into their civilian lives, but that doesn't matter too much...right?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 20
Kudos: 435





	Familiar Habits

**Author's Note:**

> Hey Guys! I am NOT a writer by any means but obviously quarantine has given me extra time and I discovered this show. I have never written fanfic before but this is something fun for me to do that takes up some time in my day and allows me to destress (sort of). This is literally my first ever fic, other than the ones I used to make up in my head when I was little and I would love any kind of feedback!

Over the past couple years they had gotten more and more comfortable with each other. Which meant they started to develop habits. One of those habits involved her reactions to his puns. Marinette couldn’t remember exactly when it started but, if Chat Noir was within reach of her as Ladybug and said a particularly ill-timed or bad pun she would reach over and smack him. The smack was often followed by an admonition of how it wasn’t the time or place for such nonsense. It became something of a game for them. He would try to make the worst possible puns in order to see her reaction. He would purposefully say them at inappropriate times just to get a rise out of her. She had to admit, sometimes it did help to ease the tension during battles and rough moments. He grew to expect a small smack upside the head if he was close enough to her. 

But. This was not Chat Noir. This was Adrien. And time had stopped. 

Marinette looked at her own hand and back at Adrien’s shocked face. She had hit him. She had hit him. Other than akumas, Marinette had never hit anybody in her life. Even the akumas were when she was Ladybug. Marinette had never hit anybody in her life. And yet, here they stood. She didn’t know how to explain. They had just watched a cat fall off a tall window and Adrien had said very confidently, “What a CAT-tastrophe” (yes, seriously) and Marinette reached over and..and…

Alya and Nino had froze as well and were looking back and forth between the two while Marinette could feel the heat rapidly rise to her face. It felt like everybody was holding their breath for just a second too long…. And then the silence broke. Because Alya and Nino were absolutely dying. Not only was it amazing to see Marinette hit somebody, it was even better that it happened to be the one person in the world she was in love with. 

Marinette began to stammer. As she spent more time with Adrien it had gradually gone away, of course it returned if he was unexpectedly sweet or funny, but right now it was solely because of her own actions.

“A..Adrien… are you sorry? I mean! Are you ok? I’m so hurt. YOU must be hurt! I’m SO SORRY!!”

The laughter that drowned out her apology was not helping matters. She could hear Nino wheezing on the ground as they both tried to regain control of their lungs. 

“It was just a refl….” She stopped. How could she possibly explain to her friends that It was a habit? THEY had never seen her hit anybody. There was no possible reason that she would have a habit of hitting another person. She wasn’t even thinking when it happened. It was like her hand had a mind of its own. Hearing a cat pun in particular was just too familiar. Obviously she would never hit Adrien no matter how bad the pun. 

Adrien. He was still looking at her. But he didn’t looked shocked any more. Well, as shocked. His face suddenly became very scrutinizing. Marinette did not know what that face meant but she was worried. What if he ended up hating her forever? What if he told the school she hit him? Would she be expelled for hitting the son of the most famous fashion designer in Paris? Would she be locked up for assault? Then they would never get married and have kids and a house and a hamster…

Then suddenly he smiled. He smiled? Why was he looking at her like that? She just smacked him upside the head and she wasn’t particularly gentle either. Then as he opened his mouth, probably to tell her that he never wanted to be friends with her ever again, the bell rang. Talk about being saved by the bell. Marinette squeaked a few more hasty apologies before running to their classroom. She would bring him some pastries tomorrow as an apology but right now she needed to leave. 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“What was that all about girl?” Alya slid next to her, barely suppressing a smile. Her eyes were shining, and her face was still pink from laughing so hard. “I mean not that I’m complaining, that’s the hardest I’ve laughed all week. But I am curious, at what point did you get comfortable enough around Adrien to hit him?”

Marinette looked up from the the desk where she was resting her head, only after banging it there a couple times before they walked in. She had no idea how she was going to explain this to anybody. “Alya, I don’t know what that was I swear! I just..I really don’t like puns..?” Alya narrowed her eyes. It was so difficult to try to lie to a reporter, especially Alya. But for some reason, she let it go. Probably because Ms. Bustier walked in right at the moment and was starting their history lesson. 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After class ended, Marinette got out of the classroom as quickly as she could. She had packed up her bag 5 minutes before the bell, while sending mental apologies to Ms. Bustier, so that she could leave right away without having to talk to Adrien before tomorrow when she could bring him his apology pastries. However, as she reached the top of the steps she heard her name being called. She spun around and tripped. As gravity pulled her back towards the unforgiving cement stairs, someone caught her hand. She looked up and saw those familiar green eyes. Of course. 

Adrien was smiling softly as he said, “Hey Marinette, are you ok?” Of course he would ask that, she had smacked him today and he was asking if she was ok. Why was he like this? He was too perfect and kind and handsome and dreamy, woah there, hold on, answer the question Marinette!

“OH YES! I’m fine, you know how I am, sooo clumsy. If you’ll excuse me I really really need to get home to telp my barents in the pakery, I mean, help my parents in the bakery!” The only thing her brain was telling her over and over again was “Abort Abort Abort.” Not very helpful.

Adrien let go of her hand, they hadn’t even realized he was still holding it. He thought for a minute before asking, “Are you busy tonight?”

“What…?” Marinette had no idea where he was going with this. 

“Well, that new Mechastrike game came out last week and I was wondering if maybe you would want to test run it with me? I was hoping for someone more experienced than Natalie or my father.”

Marinette.exe has stopped working. Reboot.

She stood there with her mouth open. She mentally ran through her schedule, and cursed her luck. It was her night for patrol. She couldn’t ask Chat Noir to cover for her again. He had picked up four times in the last two weeks for her because she was working on a huge sewing project for Gabriel internships. While she knew he didn’t mind and he liked getting out, she also knew that he would probably want the nights off that he was supposed to have. Besides, Adrien was probably just offering out of pity, in order to make her feel better. “Adrien I would really love to, but I can’t tonight. I have to finish my Gabriel project.” There, that was the perfect excuse, he would be off the hook because he knew she had been working on that for the better part of the last month.

“I thought those were due yesterday?” He replied.

Oh right, duh, of course he would know that. “Oh yeah, you’re right, I forgot about that because I’ve, uh been working on it for so long you know?” She sighed, “But I do have a thing tonight. A real thing I promise, I have to meet up with a friend and we’re supposed to work on another project for something that isn’t school, otherwise you would know about it because we have the same classes but I can’t cancel I’m so sorry! But if the offer still stands I could do tomorrow?” Chat Noir was patrolling tomorrow night.

He smiled. “Sorry I can’t do tomorrow night, I only had tonight open this week, maybe another time then.” There. Exactly. He was only offering to be nice, he didn’t actually want to hang out with her. And Marinette watched his face. He didn’t look remotely disappointed. In fact, when he had caught her excuse, just for a second, he looked like he won…something. But it faded so quickly she dismissed it. 

“Yeah for sure! We’ll find another time! I would love to hang out with you and totally destroy you at video games!” When he didn’t respond to the challenge she looked at his face and realized he was staring at her with a soft smile on his face. She felt a blush creeping up to her cheeks under his intense gaze. It wasn’t creepy, it was almost like he was admiring her. Like he found her endearing or something. Just then, a car horn sounded. They both jumped and saw his bodyguard waiting. Adrien offered a small smile and shrug before starting down the steps. Marinette gave a small wave and started to slowly walk the other way towards the bakery. When he reached the car he paused and turned. 

“I’ll see you later Marinette!” When she turned towards him, he winked at her. She stopped and felt her face heat but she was able to maintain enough brainpower to wave and say “Yeah! I’ll see you later!” 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

That night, after her patrol, as Ladybug swung towards the Eiffel Tower she couldn’t stop thinking about Adrien. He had asked her to hang out and then he had winked at her!! Even if it was out of pity it still made her heart flip. She almost missed her landing a couple times so she tried to push those thoughts to the back of her mind. But it didn’t work. Her landing on the Eiffel Tower was a little rougher than she was used to. Meaning she took a slight tumble. Meaning she tripped and somersaulted a couple of times. Not very superhero-like. If she was distracted enough, she was basically regular Marinette in a Ladybug costume with invulnerability. After getting to her feet and dusting herself off, she realized she wasn’t alone on top of the tower. 

“Evening Bugaboo. Nice night isn’t it? Though that was kind of a rough landing.” Chat Noir was sitting on top of the railing, grinning at her. “What has you so distracted tonight? Was it me?” 

She rolled her eyes but because she was smiling she knew she didn’t look that convincing. “I didn’t even know you were up here Chat. Why are you here anyway? It’s your night off.” 

“Well, My Lady has had a busy couple weeks, I just wanted to make sure she could handle tonight without me. Plus I didn’t have anything else to do, I like being out here.” He leapt off the railing and started walking over to her purposefully. “So how was your day today?”

It seemed like such a harmless question. But they knew each other well enough to know that there was a reason for him to ask that. She eyed him warily, “It was fine, nothing too crazy I guess?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary?” “Ummm.. No?”

“Nothing that you might want to tell me about?”

“Is there something you want me to say?” 

“You smell good.”

“Excuse me?” The sudden change in topic took her completely by surprise. Sure they knew each other better then pretty much anybody but sometimes there were moments where she wondered if he had lost his brain entirely. 

“Not like that, just like fresh baked bread!” They locked eyes for about two seconds before he grinned again. Of course. She should have known he was just teasing her. 

“Well if you must know I got some baking done today.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Oh really, anything specific?”

“Some passionfruit macarons and chocolate croissants. They’re for a… a friend.” She frowned at her own hesitation. Of course she wanted to be more than just friends and after what happened today that seemed like a possibility. But maybe she was just overthinking things.

Chat gasped dramatically, “And you didn’t bring any for me? My two favorite pastries in the whole world and you didn’t think to give me any? Who is this friend that they’re so special anyway? You didn’t sound like they were friend.” His tone changed suddenly from mocking to almost genuinely disappointed. 

“Of course we’re friends. And for one, I didn’t know you were going to be here. Two, they are apology pastries anyway.” She frowned at him and turned towards the view of the Seine, thinking about what she was going to say to Adrien tomorrow. 

He smirked at her. “What could you possibly be apologizing for?”

Something about his tone and his teasing made her realize who was to blame for this whole fiasco. “It’s actually YOUR FAULT!” She whirled around to face him. “You know why? You know why I don’t sound sure that we’re friends? They made a pun and I am so used to smacking you for you horrible puns that I actually reached over and hit them!” She wasn’t actually angry with him and she’s sure he knew that, but all of her embarrassment came pouring out.

“I hit one of my dearest friends, who I really really care about and then you know what else? I couldn’t even tell them why I did that! I don’t hit people! I couldn’t explain to them why that was a habit that I had! Because of you!! You think I would have been able to say, oh yeah I’m just in the habit of smacking people who say bad puns because I spend at least 3 nights a week with Chat Noir? NO!!” She spun back around throwing her hands in the air. “I couldn’t say that!! I couldn’t offer any reasonable explanation at all!! So now he probably thinks I’m insane and my friends are all wondering why I hit the love of my life..!” She stopped suddenly. She had said too much. Of course it wasn’t enough to give away her identity…right? She slowly turned back towards Chat Noir who hadn’t moved and was watching her with his mouth slightly open. She deflated a little.

“I’m sorry Kitty. I’m not actually mad at you. Just embarrassed. I finally started getting comfortable around him and then this happened.” She sighed and looked back out over the city skyline. She felt Chat Noir come and stand next to her. She didn’t want to meet his eyes, but she probably owed him that after unloading all of her annoyance and embarrassment. She looked up and saw he was smiling softly at her. Hmm that looked familiar.

“I’m sorry M’Lady. That sounds like…a CAT-tastrophe.” She smiled, reached over and froze. Her hand was hovering an inch above his head ready to strike, but the deja vu was too insistent. That was exactly the pun that got her into this mess. The gears were turning. The pieces were falling into place. She looked into his eyes and saw the same gaze that had caused her to blush on the school steps just that afternoon. Ladybug jumped about a foot backwards and clapped her hand over her mouth to keep from shrieking. 

“I….you….you…but…” She couldn’t form a complete sentence. She couldn’t think straight. Reboot Reboot Reboot.

He started walking towards her slowly with his hands up like he was trying not to scare her away. “Hey.” He spoke softly. “Hey it’s going to be ok. It’s alright.”

“Today… when I…..You…You’re…. Oh my GOD I KISSED YOU???”

“Wait we kissed?” 

She was struggling to put everything together. She dropped to her knees and sat there for what felt like an eternity. Staring at the floor. Seeing nothing and everything at the same time. He slowly came and sat next to her. Close enough for comfort but far enough away to give her some space. Finally, she looked up at him. Her eyes searched his for a couple minutes before finally braving the question. 

“It was when I smacked you?”

“Yep.”

“And you knew I was patrolling tonight and I wouldn’t cancel again so that’s why you asked me to hang out?”

“I wanted to be sure.”

“And now you definitely think I’m nuts.”

“Well I’ve always thought you were crazy ever since you threw me across a football field.”

She laughed, a real laugh, and then got very quiet again. She brought her knees up to her chest and sat there for another minute or so. Her brain and her heart were still racing. She was sitting next to Adrien on top of the Eiffel Tower. Adrien Agreste was her partner and best friend. Adrien was in love with her! Or was he? She took a deep breath, stood up and offered him her hand. They walked over to the railing and stood next to each other. She looked out over the Paris skyline again, unsure of where to go from here. While she was trying to decide whether or not to address her confession, Chat Noir decided maybe it was his turn to start.

“So…the love of your life huh?”

It was dangerous to tease her so soon after the revelation and he half expected her to freak out again, but now that he knew they were the same person he wasn’t sure if Marinette or Ladybug was going to respond. But when she looked at him, there was no difference. Even though her cheeks were dusted pink she looked him right in the eye. Her blue eyes held so much depth and love and he couldn’t believe he’d never seen it before. 

She took a deep breath. “Yes. I love you. I always have. Ever since that first day in the rain.” She spoke evenly and looked at him the whole time. “Ironic isn’t it? The guy I’ve been rejecting you for this whole time… was you.” She even smiled a little at that. “So. Now you know.” She was avoiding his eyes now, but if she hadn’t she would have seen the clear adoration in them. The words began to tumble out of her mouth. “I probably should have told you a long time ago. I guess Alya will be proud of me at least. And I totally understand if you don’t feel the same way but I am glad that you know now at least once and maybe then I can actually move on and..”

“Marinette?”

“Yes?” She didn’t want to look at him. To be rejected by both of them at the same time. But he grabbed her hand. And that gave her enough courage to meet his eyes. He smiled.

“Stop talking.” 

Then he kissed her. Everything seemed to melt away. It was fireworks and silence at the same time. It was that feeling that someone cared about you on purpose. That it was no accident that they loved you. 

The only thing that mattered was the two of them. There. Together. He was kissing her. He loved her. He was holding her and nothing would take that away. There were no more secrets, no more hiding and no more longing for either of them. They were united and now they would be able to be there for one another, fully and completely. What could stop them now?


End file.
